Friday in my private time with the Lord, I was reminded of the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 5 where the church was admonished to deliver the man who had sex with his father's wife; they were to turn this sinning Christian (he professed) over "to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Probably no more is meant by this than a simple disowning of the person, accompanied with the refusal to admit him to the sacred ordinances, or to have any connection with him.
But then Paul comes back in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 stating, "But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent--not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,..."
But then Paul comes back in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 stating, "But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent--not to be too severe. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,..."
That is, the man had suffered sufficiently. Paul is showing his tenderness towards this great transgressor. He had been disowned by the Church; he had deeply repented; and now Paul pleads for him.
7 "...so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow."
He had suffered enough for the punishment inflicted had answered the end for which it was inflicted; and there was some danger that, if he were not restored to the heart of the Church, his distress and anguish would destroy his life, or drive him to despair. Have you ever felt like the Body of Christ was so unforgiving that it led you to despair?
8 "Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."
Christ forgave this repentant man, just as He forgives you and I of a repentant heart; let us forgive our brothers and sisters of offense against the Church, and restore him/her to its communion. Are we above Christ when it comes to our brothers and sisters in the Lord?
Christ forgave this repentant man, just as He forgives you and I of a repentant heart; let us forgive our brothers and sisters of offense against the Church, and restore him/her to its communion. Are we above Christ when it comes to our brothers and sisters in the Lord?
We as Believers too often carry our branding of the sinning Christian way too far (misguided or deliberate). Let's learn from Paul, "lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow." Is there someone in the Body of Church who you need to forgive and restore?
1 comment:
No not at this time but there was a time in another Church that I was in that I felt that they restored him to quickly and he again stumbled at the same sin and now is out of Church completely.
So that's another problem that must be saturated in the prayers of the Saints to not to be too quick to forgive one that was living in sin, they need to feel the pain of what they did and the seriousness of the sin.
Therefore it must be bathed in prayer with the whole Church before making any decisions.
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